Cheoy Lee 41"Astraea"

Astraea is probably much better built for single handing on this adenture than am I.  She is a bit large and heavy for one person, but within the range that most experienced cruisers say is practical for a single hander.  A significant advantage is that she is a ketch, which means that her sail plan is split up and much easier to manage.  For instance, I can sail at night with jib and mizzen, easily managed from the cockpit.  Also, with her new Monitor Wind Vane (which I have named "Bob" after my life partner, who is actually an excellent helsman) that was recently installed, and a good electric autopilot, named Eloise, her new Furuno suite of electronics to help watch for merchants, there is really no reason not to go single handed and still be safe.  It also would make decisions much easier and dramatically reduce crew disagreements if I were alone.   Last, but not least, there is something romantic, daring, dangerous, and exciting about the thought of crossing oceans alone in a sailboat.  My oldest and dearest friend, who is a professional psychic (honest, she really is, she is the real thing), has told me that I need to do this alone as a way of "discovering" muself.  I think, as usual, she may be right. 

Bottom line, if I find someone who is a good fit for crew then I may have company on this trip.  However I am not planning on it and if I do not find someone then, after an extensive "shake down" cruise in Mexico, I will go it alone across the Pacific to French Polynesia.  The idea of facing the elements and the sea and crossing vast distances of water alone is intriguing and exciting and frightening, all at the same time. 

"Sailing Alone Around the World", which he published in 1900 which describes his adventure, the first solo circumnavigation.  The book starts with these lines:

  "I had resolved on a voyage around the world, and as the wind on the morning of April 24, 1895 was fair, at noon I weighed anchor, set sail, and filled away from <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 />Boston, where the Spray had been moored snugly all winter. The twelve o'clock whistles were blowing just as the sloop shot ahead under full sail. A short board was made up the harbor on the port tack, then coming about she stood to seaward, with her boom well off to port, and swung past the ferries with lively heels. A photographer on the outer pier of East Boston got a picture of her as she swept by, her flag at the peak throwing her folds clear. A thrilling pulse beat high in me. My step was light on deck in the crisp air. I felt there could be no turning back, and that I was engaging in an adventure the meaning of which I thoroughly understood." <?xml:namespace prefix = o />

The ocean traffic of the world in Captain Slocum's day at the end of the 19^th Century was much different than the 21^st Century.  

A century ago there were FAR fewer ships plying the oceans, and ships did not move nearly as fast as they do today. 

Captain Joshua Slocum was successful in this adventure in a wooden sloop he had personally rebuilt.  Nobody else had ever successfully done a solo circumnavigation.  He had no GPS, no accurate chronometer, no radio, no radar, no EPIRB, no life raft, few and primative charts, little money, and since nobody else had ever done this he did not have the advantage of the experience of others.  If he could do it under those circumstances, then I can certainly do it with my modern boat and all of her modern gear. 

The original cover of Captain Slocum's book, published in 1900.  I actually purchased an original 1900 edition of this book from an antique book dealer in New York .  I keep it aboard Astraea as a "good luck" talisman.  Who says we sailors are not superstitious!

However, despite the dangers, there are still many sailors plying the oceans as solo sailors.  There is a certain mystique, romance, and sense of adventure to the idea of solo sailing.  Astraea, outfitted with state-of-the-art GPS and Radar and perimeter alarm, AIS, auto pilot, and Monitor Wind Vane, is certainly capable of sailing herself out on the open ocean, and alerting me if anyone is in the area.  She also hoves to quite well.  However coastal solo sailing in the shipping lanes is vastly more challenging and presents a certain level of danger as sleep deprivation can be very dangerous. 

Today being alone at sea is not nearly as chalenging mentally as it was for Slocum.  Astraea carries countless gigabytes of music and movies and books on iPod's and computers.  When we leave San Diego bound for Mexico she will also have an Iridium satellite telephone for instant communications from anywhere in the world to anywhere else in the world.  She carries a Winslow Open Ocean six person life raft, EPIRB, and a comprehensive “ditch bag”.  Joshua Slocum would never believe the advances made in the past 100 years in comfort and safety for small boats.  For him to visit Astraea would be like me visiting some alien space craft.

A more contemporary inspiration is Paul Lutus, a really amazing guy from Oregon, a computer programmer and self described "computer nerd", who successfully sailed his Pacific Seacraft 31 around the world in a little over three years from 1988-1991.  This was a smart and determined guy who had no sailing experience at all, read some books, bought a book, taught himself to sail, and went around the world solo.  His book is brilliant, inspiring, and his book has been a source that I return to for encouragement.  His book, Confessions of a Long Distance Sailor, is available free of charge as a download from his web site.  It is a great read.  Click here for the link to download this book. 

Another contemporary inspiration for a solo circumnavigation is, or rather was, Alex Dorsey.  His website is www.projectbluesphere.com .  I followed Alex and his adventures and trials and tribuations for a couple of years, eagerly checking his website every morning for his latest updates.  However after a really strong start he gave up and sold his boat in French Polynesia.  Alex had (has) some issues related to long distance solo sailing.  He also did not have adequate financial resources and was really doing a Scarlet O'Hara act by "depending on the kindness of strangers".  I actually contributed monthly to his PayPal account until he announced that he was selling his boat and giving up.  Alex is certainly not the first person to give up the solo circumnavigation dream.   However at least he tried.  I give him credit for that.